


Where to next

by DarkValkyrie



Category: Fantasy - Fandom, Original Work
Genre: Death as a character, Implied Death, Implied Murder, Path tellers, Souls, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-17
Updated: 2020-01-17
Packaged: 2021-02-27 10:00:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,457
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22295206
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DarkValkyrie/pseuds/DarkValkyrie
Summary: One event, when she was still young, changed Lorelai's whole life. At that time she wasn't even aware of the impact that event will have on the rest of her life.She didn't even know what impact that event will have on the choice she made when Death stood in front of her and asked her to choose a path.
Comments: 4
Kudos: 3





	1. Tattoo

**Author's Note:**

> I didn't use any movies, books or series for inspiration the story is my original work.  
> This is just the result of my weird imagination and brain telling me what to write. I hope you liked it :)
> 
> It’s still just a story, like all of my other stores. It doesn’t have a deeper spiritual, moral or ethical meaning.

Lorelai was sitting on a chair resting her arms on the back of it. Her back was bare and Alina, the tattoo artist, had already copied the template of the tattoo on her bare back. Since the first time she saw a tattoo, she knew that she wanted one too. The first tattoo she saw was a tattoo of a skull holding a rose in its mouth. Something about the skull tattoo fascinated her. She didn’t know what but she felt mesmerized by it. 

Alina was a really good tattoo artist and a designer and she had her hands full with Lorelai’s design requests. Lorelai thought out her tattoo to the last detail. It took Alina a month to get all the details of the tattoo right. Because of all the details, the tattoo had to be big, so Alina told Lorelai that the best place for the tattoo would be her back. 

The final tattoo design was marvelous. It depicted death’s bust with a skull in a black hood. Behind death was a scythe starting from the right side and ending on the left side of death’s head, with a full moon on the left side of the scythe. The hardest thing for Alina was drawing the centerpiece of the tattoo design, an hourglass from a picture that Lorelai gave her. 

Lorelai once visited a museum of antiques with her parents when she was a child, and saw a black hourglass taller than her, with breathtaking carvings on the vertical pillars and black sand in the bottom chamber. It had two vertical pillars, one had had a dragon and skulls and other wolves and a moon carvings coming out of the pillars. It looked ancient and had white letters engraved at the top and the bottom of the frame, but the carvings and the letters looked as if they haven’t been damaged by time. The hourglass was a challenge, but Alina captured its essence perfectly with the carvings and letters. She put the hourglass in the middle of the tattoo, under the death’s skull and into its bony hand. Lorelai asked her to put some black sand into the top chamber, just to balance it a little.

The tattooing process took four sessions and Lorelai did feel pain while Alina was working around her bones, but it didn’t matter, she was happy that her dream will come true, that she'll finally have a tattoo. She was actually glad that the tattoo was on her back, in a place her parents couldn’t see it because they were always against tattoos. 

She remembered the first time she told them that she’s going to get a tattoo. It was two years ago, but it felt like two days ago. They looked at her as if she was some kind of delinquent, they both frowned at her and shouted at her that they didn’t raise their daughter that way. It started a big fight between them. Now that she was eighteen, and that she actually could get the tattoo without their approval, she made the decision to get the tattoo and not tell them anything.

After the last tattoo session, Lorelai spent a whole hour just standing in front of the mirror looking at her back. In her eyes the tattoo was perfect and the white letters on the top **‘o vorr dorr aeai’** , and the letters on the bottom **‘vhoro da sa mozd’** , in the middle of the deaths black robe stood out and elevated the whole design. She was so focused on the tattoo that she didn’t hear someone knocking on the front door. Putting her shirt back on she walked towards the front door and opened it. 

Their neighbor Mr. Marcus was standing there rubbing his hands. When he saw Lorelai, he smiled and started to talk about his morning. About how his toaster was acting funny today and how he tried to fix it. She listened to him but wasn’t paying attention. It wasn’t like Mr. Marcus was a bad person, he was nice and friendly, but he was boring. His life was uninteresting, he had no hobbies, no friends and worked at the IRS. After a while, Lorelai got lost in her own thoughts. She got back to reality when Mr. Marcus asked her. “So, what do you think?”

“Sorry, about what?” Lorelai asked.

“About where should I go next.” Mr. Marcus said.

“You lost me there. I don’t know what you mean. Why are you asking me?” Lorelai asked.

“Well, you have to tell me.” Mr. Marcus said.

“Ok. Where would you like to go?” Lorelai asked.

“I don’t want to go back. I don’t deserve that. I would like to go left but I’m scared.” Mr. Marcus said.

Lorelai had absolutely no idea what Mr. Marcus was talking about so she said “It can’t be that scary. Go try it.”

“I think I will. Thank you.” Mr. Marcus said and started walking left. Lorelai closed the door and went to her room.

‘ _What was that all about? Why would I have to tell him where to go? He’s a grown man. And what was with not deserving to go back._ ’ Lorelai thought as she walked into her room and sat on her bed. What she couldn’t see was that a grain of black sand on her tattoo fell from the top chamber into the lower one.

A few minutes after she heard sirens and, through her window, saw police and an ambulance stop in front and walk into her building. She heard a commotion on her floor and walked over to the front door. She opened the front door a bit and saw the police knock on Mr. Marcus’ apartment. There was no answer so they kicked the door down and walked in together with the paramedics.

Lorelai opened the front door a bit more and saw Mr. Marcus lying lifeless on the floor. She stood paralyzed. _‘Did I do that? Did my advice kill him?_ ’ She thought as her heart started beating faster. 

“No, he’s dead for too long.” Lorelai heard one of the paramedics say.

“Probably early in the morning.” One of the police officers said holding up a toaster.

Lorelai saw the toaster and remembered Mr. Marcus telling her about it just a few minutes ago. One police officer came towards her and said “Hello, young lady. Did you hear something from your neighbor’s apartment this morning? Was someone other than your neighbor here or did you maybe hear someone scream?”

“No, I was asleep. I didn’t hear anything. What happened to him?” Lorelai asked.

“At first glance, it looks like he tried to fix his toaster but got electrocuted. We just want to check that someone else wasn’t involved.” One of the other police officers called him. “I have to go now. Thank you for the information” The police officer said and left. They put Mr. Marcus’s body in a black body bag and took him away.

Lorelai closed the front door and sat on the floor. Nothing made sense. ‘ _If he died early in the morning, how could he talk to her just a few minutes before the police and the ambulance arrived here? How is that possible?_ ’ She thought as she hugged her knees. 

Her mother saw her sitting on the floor, hugging her knees, eyes wide open, and asked. “What's wrong?”

Slowly Lorelai lifted her head and looked at her mother, stood up and said “Mr. Marcus is dead.”

“Ah, that poor man. Death comes for everyone eventually.” Her mother said. 

“Yeah.” Lorelai said and went to her room.


	2. Questions

After school, Lorelai asked her best friend Ella to go get coffee. They lived a block away in the same direction and knew each other since kindergarten. There was a small cafe they both loved on their way home. Ella couldn’t come because she had after classes, Lorelai decided to walk home from school and get a cup of coffee alone. It was a warm spring afternoon and she enjoyed the walk until a woman approached her all flustered.

“Ufff… I finally caught up to you.” The woman said.

“Sorry, miss. I think you mistook me for someone else.” Lorelai said.

“No. I’m looking for you. I saw you a long way back and hurried to catch up with you.” The woman said.

“But I don’t know you.” Lorelai said.

“I just need you to tell me where to go next.” The woman said.

“I don’t know.” Lorelai said.

“But you must know. That’s why I’m here. You must know where I need to go next.” The woman insisted.

“Why don’t you choose yourself?” Lorelai asked.

“I can’t. You have to tell me.” The woman said raising her voice.

‘ _Mr. Marcus said he didn’t deserve to go back, so back is bad. I told him to go left and he was a little scared to go there, so left is something different but not bad. If there is back and left, there must be right and forward. But I have no clue what each path means._ ’ Lorelai thought but said “Hmmm… Where would you like to go?” 

“I didn’t do everything that I wanted so I would like to go forward.” The woman said.

“Then go forward.” Lorelai said. The woman thanked her and started walking forward, passing her.

Lorelai thought about the woman’s words and turned around to look at the woman but there was no sign of her. ‘ _What did she mean by I didn’t do everything that I wanted?_ ’ She thought.

Lorelai continued walking, got coffee to go and walked home. Again, on her tattoo, a grain of black sand dropped down into the lower chamber.

In the middle of the night, Lorelai was awoken by the sound of something hitting her window. Half asleep she walked over, opened the window and looked down on the street. A small rock hit her and she heard someone say sorry. She looked in the direction of the voice and saw a guy around her age.

“What?” Lorelai asked.

“I need you to tell me where to go next.” The guy said.

“Now? Are you crazy? Can’t this wait until morning?” Lorelai asked.

“No. I need to know now.” The guy said.

“We can’t keep shouting like this. I’ll come down.” Lorelai said, got dressed, went out of the building and saw the guy standing on the steps to her building entrance.

“So, where do I go next?” The guy asked. He was dressed like a gang member or drug dealer and even had a gang tattoo.

“Why can’t this wait?” Lorelai asked.

“I already lost a lot of time finding you, we have to hurry.” The guy said.

“Are you a gang member?” Lorelai asked.

“Yeah, so what. Just tell me where to go.” The guy frowned at her and raised his voice. 

Lorelai had an urge to tell him to go back but instead, she said. “What if I tell you to go right?”

“What, you want to waste my time? I don’t want to be there and then wait to move forward until I pass all those stupid tests.” The guy said.

“I have a feeling you must go right. Go right.” Lorelai said.

“You can’t do this to me. You bitch!” The guy shouted at her but started walking right. 

Lorelai turned towards the building entrance, opened it, turned her head to look at the guy but he wasn’t there anymore. A second ago he stood on the steps and now he’s gone. Another grain of sand, on her tattoo, found its way into the lower chamber.

Thank the heavens it was Friday today and that she could sleep in tomorrow. Too tired to think Lorelai went back to the apartment, fell on the bed and as soon as her head touched the pillow, she fell asleep.

The next day Lorelai slept in all the way until lunch and she still felt tired. The guy from yesterday was still in her head. Taking care of the tattoo, she thought about the guy’s words, about passing the tests to move forward. Trying to put the pieces of information she gathered together, she heard her mother calling her to come and eat lunch, so she got up, got dressed and headed towards the kitchen.

After lunch, Lorelai took a notebook and drew a crossroad with four directions. She labeled them and next to the direction BACK she wrote bad because Mr. Marcus said he didn’t want to go there. Next to the direction FORWARD she wrote good but she was hesitant about what to write next to the direction LEFT. Mr. Marcus was a bit scared and also hesitant to go left but he went left so it must be good but a different good than forward. Next to LEFT, she wrote different good. The only one left was RIGHT and, by the reaction and the words of the guy yesterday, next to it she wrote different bad.

Looking at what she drew and wrote Lorelai still had no idea what it all meant and why did people look for her to ask her where should they go. She thought about talking with Ella about it, but what was the point. Why drag Ella into all of this when even she didn’t know what all this means. The only things that didn’t make sense, besides the people asking her where to go, were that she talked to Mr. Marcus even though the police said that he died hours before and the guy that disappeared a few seconds after talking to her.

Lorelai’s phone rang, Ella was calling her. She asked Lorelai to come with her out tonight. One of their classmates was celebrating her birthday and asked them to come.

“Shure. Are you gonna pick me up or are we gonna meet somewhere?” Lorelai asked.

“The party is at her apartment so we’ll meet there. I have to do something before the party so I’ll be there around nine. I’ll text you the address, ok?” Ella said.

“Yeah, text me the address. I’ll meet you there around nine.” Lorelai said.

Lorelai wasn’t in the mood for a party, she was still feeling tired. She told Ella that she’ll come to the party so she decided that she’ll stay a while and go home after two or three hours. Since she's already going to the party, she decided that she’ll show off her new tattoo. Searching through her closet she finally found a perfect black shirt with a low back. She put it on and looked at her back in the mirror. The whole tattoo was visible, just as she wanted. After some more searching through her closet, she found a matching skirt and decided that what she picked out will be the perfect party outfit.

There was more than enough time until the party so Lorelai went back to putting the pieces of information on the directions she had together. ‘ _It would be easier if I had someone to ask what does all this mean. Wait! Maybe there are others. But how do I find them when I don't know how these people find me? This all started after I got my tattoo. That can’t be a coincidence._ ’ She thought and decided to call Alina and ask her if she tattooed a similar tattoo like hers on someone.

“Hi, Alina! Sorry for calling you on your day off. No, everything’s alright with the tattoo I just have a question. Yeah… Did you tattoo anyone with a tattoo like mine? ... Yeah… You didn’t. Can you ask around? I mean can you ask your friends if they tattooed anyone with a tattoo like mine? … Yeah, death and the hourglass with black sand and white letters … You can! Oh, thank you! … Yeah, call me back at any time. Thanks again! Bye.” Lorelai said. Her tattoo was specific so she hoped that, if this whole thing is happening because of the tattoo, Alina would find out if one of her friends had a client ask for the same or similar tattoo.

With that done Lorelai hoped that no more people were going to ask her where to go next before she could speak with someone who knows more about this whole thing that’s been happening to her. 


	3. Pieces

Around an hour before the birthday party, Lorelai got dressed, put on a jacket, got out of the building and headed towards the address Ella texted her. The address wasn’t far so she decided to walk. It was a nice spring evening and a lot of people were still out walking, enjoying the warm weather after the cold winter. As she was walking a man dressed all in black ran beside her pushing her out of his way. She stumbled, looked at him, thought about shouting after him but then saw a police officer running after him. They both ran into an alley and a few moments after, she heard a gunshot.

There were sounds of police sirens getting closer and Lorelai saw more police officers running towards her and the ally. Afraid, she quickly crossed the street and started walking away from the whole commotion. She felt someone grab her hand and pull her into a side street, behind a corner of a building. It was a man dressed all in black. He looked like the man who ran into the ally. He grabbed her neck with his hands and tightened his grip, choking her. Looking into her eyes, he said. “When I loosen my grip enough for you to talk, you are going to tell me to go forward really slowly so I can hear each letter. If I hear any letter besides f I will tighten my grip and choke you to death. Nod if you understand me.”

Lorelai slowly nodded. Her neck hurt so much that she couldn’t speak. She was shaking and tears started to form in the corners of her eyes and drop down on both sides of her face.

“Good. I’m going to loosen my grip a little now and you start talking. Remember, if you say anything other than forward, I will kill you.” The man said and started to loosen his grip.

Lorelai coughed a few times and, as quickly as possible, she said. “Go back.”

The man’s grip started to tighten around Lorelai’s neck as he was shouting and cursing at her. ”You bitch! I don’t care how long it takes but I will find you and kill you! I will kill you and everything you love for doing this to me you whore!”. After a few seconds. his voice and hands around her neck started to fade. Lorelai thought that she was losing consciousness, that she was going to die, but the man holding her just disappeared. Lorelai fell to the floor coughing and crying.

Lorelai felt a hand on her shoulder and she jerked way fearing that the man was back.

“Sorry, miss. We heard a commotion coming from here. Are you all alright? What happened? What’s your name?” Lorelai heard a man’s voice say. She lifted her head and saw a police officer crouching next to her.

Crying and coughing Lorelai looked around, trying to see if the man in black was still somewhere close by, and said. “My name is Lorelai. Mn dressed in black, he looked like the man who ran into the ally over there. He shouted at me and told me that he’ll kill me. I don’t know what happened but my mind was going blank and then he was gone.” 

“Would you come with us? There is an ambulance there. We just want them to check your injuries.” The police officer crouching beside her said.

“Yes.” Lorelai said.

The police officers helped her get to the ambulance and while the paramedics checked her injuries the police officer that spoke with her talked to a man dressed in normal civilian clothes.

“There is no severe damage. Your throat is a bit hurt and there are bruises on your neck. I know that being attacked can make you feel scared and anxious so I gave you something to calm you down, it will help. You will be as good as new in a week or two so don’t worry. Ok?” The paramedic said.

“Yeah… Thank you.” Lorelai said and the paramedic went to speak with the same man in civilian clothes. After they were done talking the man in civilian clothes came towards her.

“Hi, Lorelai. I’m detective Harker. I know you just went through a lot and told the police officers what had happened. Do you mind telling me what happened?” The man asked.

“I told the police officers everything. Didn’t they tell you?” Lorelai asked.

“They did. But they don’t listen very well. They just listen, they don’t pay attention to the details and the details are what’s important. Don’t you agree?” Detective Harker asked.

“Yeah, details are important.” Lorelai said, remembering how important the details of her tattoo were important to her, and continued. “I was walking down the main street when a man dressed in black clothes with a black hat showed me to the side, out of his way. I stumbled and saw a police officer ran after him into that alley.” She pointed to the alley. “When I saw the police officer, I knew that something serious was going on so I started walking away from the alley and heard a gunshot.”

“How much time passed between them entering the alley and the gunshot?” Detective Harker asked.

“Around a few seconds. I know because I didn’t walk that far away from the alley. After the gunshot, I heard police sirens and saw more police officers ran towards me and the alley. I thought that the man in black killed the first police officer and that he will come out and hurt me so I crossed the road and quickly walked away from all the commotion.” Lorelai said

“So, you didn’t see what happened in the alley?” Detective Harker asked.

“No, I just heard a gunshot. But on the other side of the street, a man grabbed my arm and pulled me in the side street, where the police officers found me, and grabbed my neck. He was dressed all in black like the man who ran into the alley. I could have sworn that he was wearing the same clothes as the man who ran into the alley. He started choking me with both hands and telling me that he was going to kill me.” Lorelai looked at the detective and thought about telling him what the man wanted from her but she doubted that he would believe her so she said. “I don’t know what happened next but my mind was going blank and then he was gone.” 

“The police officers probably scared him away.” Detective Harker said. 

Detective Harker sat next to her for a few moments and said. “The gunshot you heard was the police officer shooting at the man in black, well, actually killing him. However, there are two things that are bothering me. You said that a man looking just like the man who ran into the alley attacked you and tried to choke you to death with both hands.”

“Yes.” Lorelai said

“Come with me for a second.” Detective Harker said and they walked together into the alley.

Detective Harker asked. “Did the man that choked you wear the same clothes as this man?”

Lorelai froze in place. Not only did the man wear the same clothes, but it was also the man who choked her. She started to shake, standing there speechless. “I… I … I don’t know.” She finally managed to say. 

“If he did then my case isn’t closed with this man’s death.” Detective Harker said.

“Why?” Lorelai asked.

“Because the bruises on your neck are identical to the bruises on the necks of the victims his man killed. And now he may have an accomplice.” Detective Harker said.

‘ _Oh no. How can I tell him that he was right? That there is no accomplice, that the dead man was the one choking me._ ’ Lorelai thought biting her lower lip, her thoughts racing through her mind trying to find an answer.

“Ok. I’ll have some police officers drive you home to make sure that you’re safe. And this is my card. You can call me any time if you remember anything else.” Detective Harker said and gave her his business card. He called one of the police officers over, told them to take Lorelai home and make sure she’s safe.

At home, her mother saw the bruises on her neck, started crying and asked her what happened. After Lorelai explained she remembered the birthday party and that she didn’t call Ella. She called her and told her that she won’t be coming. After she explained why Ella insisted on coming over tomorrow and after some time Lorelai relented. After the conversation, she went to her room and undressed. She felt so exhausted that she just put on a random T-shirt, fell on the bed and instantly fell asleep.

The next day Ella came over and when she saw the bruises on Lorelai’s neck, she hugged her and said. “Oh my god! I’m so sorry I let you walk alone to the party.” Ella started crying but continued. “I promise I’ll never let you go so late alone anywhere again.”

“Hey, It’s ok. The police saved me so everything’s fine. It’s not your fault. If you were there you could have gotten injured yourself, so don’t worry, I’m fine. Ok?” Lorelai said.

“No, you are never going alone anywhere again.” Ella said.

“Fine, if you insist.” Lorelai said.

They spent the rest of the day in Lorelai’s room talking and having fun. Lorelai hid her drawings of the crossroad, she didn’t want to involve Ella in the things that were happening to her. Not because she thought that Ella wouldn’t believe her, but because she didn’t want her best friend to get hurt as she did.

After Ella left Lorelai thought about last night's events again. Until now she wasn't sure that the people asking her where to go were dead people or souls but after tonight, she was now sure. The man from yesterday was dead when he attacked her and disappeared while still choking her. Now the pieces of information she had made sense. The crossroad had four paths, each representing different places with different things the souls would go through. She had to send each soul down one of the paths. 

The difficult part was deciding what path to send the souls to. The most obvious path was sending them back like Lorelai did yesterday. To her, the back path was for the evil souls. The second obvious path was forward, to her it represented the opposite of the back path, it represented something good. The right and left paths were still a mystery to her. The right path had something to do with tests but she had no idea what the left path was. Still, the most confusing thing was why was this happening to her in the first place.

As time passed, the bruises on Lorelai’s neck healed and each day more souls came to ask her where to go next. She decided to ask the souls questions about their life and make a decision based on their answers, the way they talked and acted towards her and soon began to see patterns. A lot of souls lied about their lives and she sent a lot of them on the right path. Some she sent forwards, but she sent left only the ones that asked her to go left. Fortunately, she didn’t encounter a soul she had to send back.

Alina called her back about the tattoo and told her that none of her friends tattooed anyone with the design they made but that they were very interested in the design and would like to use it. Lorelai still wasn’t sure if the tattoo was the cause of the things that were happening to her so she asked Alina to not use the design. After some arguing, they made a compromise. Lorelai told her to change the design a little and remove the white letters and Alina agreed.

One day, after school, Lorelai was walking home, she had to pick up some things from a store near her school for her mother. While walking she felt someone pull her skirt. She turned around, looked down and saw a little girl holding a doll pulling her skirt.

The girl looked up at her wide-eyed and asked. “Where do I go next?”

This was the first time Lorelai had to tell a child where to go. She didn’t know if she should ask her the questions that she usually asked the other souls, it somehow seemed inappropriate asking a child how she died. She just took the girl’s hand into hers and told her. “Go forward.” 

The girl hugged her doll and started walking forward. After a few steps, she disappeared. Lorelai stood there for a few moments looking at the place where the girl disappeared. She didn’t know how to feel about sending a child’s soul down a crossroads path. After a while, she went to pick up the things for her mother and headed home.


	4. Answers

It was almost the end of the school year, which meant that the annual school dance will be held in a week. Ella was in charge of the decorations for the school dance and volunteered Lorelai to help with the decorations too. Lorelai thanked her by looking at her like she’s going to kill her but still stayed every day after school and helped.  
One day Lorelai wasn’t feeling well so in the decoration workshop she told Ella that she’ll go home early. She packed her things and left. There were a lot of people still walking outside, but it was starting to get dark, so she hurried home. She entered a park that was on her way home and saw a black figure standing on the other side of the park. It wasn’t that dark outside, she could still see other people clearly, something was off about this figure. She stopped walking but the black figure kept coming towards her.  
Lorelai started to walk back slowly, something in the way the black figure moved seemed threatening. She wanted to get out of the park, to try to lose the figure in the side streets, but as soon as she started moving the black figure accelerated its pace. In a few seconds it was just a few paces away from her. The black figure suddenly stopped, looked at her and leaned forward.  
“I told you I’d find you and kill all that you love.” It said and Lorelai recognized the voice.  
“You are the one I sent back.” Lorelai said.  
“Yes, and I was fortunate that it was you who sent me back. You screwed that up ad now you’re going to lose all that you love.” The black figure said.  
“How? How did you get here?” Lorelai asked  
“Thanks to your incompetence. Now let's start by getting rid of you first.” The black figure said, started walking towards Lorelai and lifting its arms, with the intention of choking her.  
Lorelai started to back away, to run from the black figure, but slipped on the gravel floor and fell on her back. She started to get up when suddenly all around her and the black figure time stopped. All the people stopped moving, the tree branches stopped swinging and everything was quiet. The black figure took a step back, looked around and asked. “Is this some kind of a trick? What are you doing?”  
Lorelai, still lying on his back, got up on her elbows and looked around. She saw a man, around his thirties, with a scythe coming towards them. He stood between her and the black figure and said. “What a mess.”  
“Get out of my way! This doesn’t concern you.” The black figure said and tried to bypass the man to get to Lorelai.  
The man touched the forehead of the black figure with the tip of his scythe and said stop. The black figure immediately stopped moving. “Good. Stay there.” The man said and turned towards Lorelai.  
“What did you do to him?” The man said.  
“Nothing. When I first saw him, I sent him back.” Lorelai said.  
“How?” The man asked.  
“What do you mean how? I just said go back.” Lorelai said.  
“Is that a joke? Is not following the rules a joke to you?” The man asked.  
“No. I just told him to go back.” Lorelai said.  
“Why? What did he do?” the man asked.  
“He killed and raped six women, it was all over the news and he tried to kill me.” Lorelai said.  
“Ok. Let me fix this mess.” The man said and again touched the forehead of the black figure with the tip of his scythe. “Go back for a hundred years, then go through the decoruption ritual and be judged.” As the man said the words an unseen force pulled the black figure and he disappeared at one point screaming.  
Lorelai stared wide-eyed at the point where the black figure disappeared, hoping that he won't come back again. She was so focused on that point that she didn't hear what the man in front of her was talking about. She saw a hand and fingers snapping in front of her face and looked towards the man, now crouching in front of her.  
“Good. Were back to reality. Now tell me is sending some souls in the wrong direction a joke to you or do you have a hidden agenda?” The man asked.  
“I… I… What?” Lorelai asked and looked at the man wide-eyed trying to understand what he was talking about.  
“Ok. You are obviously still under shock. Let’s start slow. I’m Max. What's your name?” The man asked.  
“I’m Lorelai.” Lorelai said.  
“Good. Now, Lorelai tell me why are you sending some souls in the wrong direction? As a path teller, you should know better.” Max said.  
“What is a path teller? Is that connected to the crossroads?” Lorelai asked.  
“Oh no…” Max tapped the bottom of his scythe twice on the floor and it shrunk so it fits in his palm. He showed it to Lorelai and asked he. “Can you show me your scythe?” He attached the scythe to his belt.  
“I don’t have one.” Lorelai said.  
“You don’t you have one? Did you lose it? You have the path tellers hourglass, you have to have the scythe.” Max said.  
“The hourglass? I don’t actually have a real hourglass. I have a tattoo of one on my back.” Lorelai said.  
“Can I see?” Max asked.  
“Sure.” Lorelai said, took off her jacket and lifted the back of her shirt. Max looked at the tattoo and told her to put her shirt down. She turned around to ask Max if the tattoo was the reason that the souls were coming to her, but found him sitting on the floor, frowning, biting his finger.  
“What’s wrong?” Lorelai asked  
“You have the path teller hourglass on your tattoo and the words of the path teller on it. That's why the souls are coming to you. But you aren’t a path teller. I have to report this.” Max was talking really quickly and sounded worried. He stood up and looked at Lorelai.  
“Go home and stay home until somebody comes to you. And avoid souls at all cost. Understand?” Max sad.  
“Understand. I’ll be home.” Lorelai said.  
Max nodded, snapped his fingers and disappeared. Time started flowing normally around Lorelai. She got up and went home. She was glad that she told Alina to remove the letters from the tattoo design, so no more people had to go through what she did.  
Around ten o’clock Lorelai was lying on the bed watching a movie with her earphones on. Someone abruptly took off her headphones, she looked up and saw Max.  
“You could have just said hello. You didn’t have to be so rude and take off my earphones off.” Lorelai said.  
“I said hello three times, but you didn’t hear me.” Max said and looking at her blankly.  
“I see that they sent you here. What’s the verdict?” Lorelai asked.  
“You know that you messed up some of the soul paths?” Max said.  
“Yea, you told me that already. Which ones did I mess up?” Lorelai asked.  
“You remember the soul of Mr. Marcus? The first one you saw and told to go left? Max asked.  
“Yea. I always wondered what happened to him and what’s the left path.” Lorelai said.  
“The left path is reincarnation as an animal.” Max said.  
“Ohhhhh… That’s cool.” Lorelai said.  
“It wasn’t for Mr. Marcus’s soul. He was reborn as a fish and eaten alive after two days. His soul was so traumatized that he's still on the right part. They are still getting all the negative emotions and experiences out of his soul so it doesn’t go corrupt.” Max said.  
“Oh no, poor Mr. Marcus.” Lorelai said and continued. “What's the right path? What happens to the souls there exactly?” She asked.  
“The souls there go through the process that gets all the negative emotions and experiences, that they collected through their lives, out of them and they pass tests to see if the process was successful. The souls have to go through this process because too many negative things can corrupt them and they can end up like the black figure.” Max said frowned and continued “And by the way, you should have sent the little girl right.”  
“But she was just a child.” Lorelai said.  
“You are not a path teller so you don’t see their souls. That little girl is an old soul that was full of negative energy and she manipulated you. I’m afraid that, when you told her to go forward and reincarnate as a human, she will be exposed to too much negative things in her next life and that her soul will go corrupt.” Max said shaking his head.  
“But when you sent the black figure back you said that there is a decoruption ritual. Doesn’t that mean that the souls can be healed?” Lorelai asked.  
“Some can, but a lot of them can’t. A lot of them stay corrupt even after the ritual and they fade away like all other souls without a body.” Max said.  
“What about me? Do I get to be a path teller or not?” Lorelai asked.  
Max scratched his head and said “Ahhh… Here’s the thing. We can’t make you a path teller.”  
“Why? Did I screw up so badly?” Lorelai asked.  
“It’s not that. The only one that can make you a path teller is Death. And we don’t know where he is.” Max said.  
“You don’t know where Death is?” Lorelai asked and looked at Max like he was wearing a dunce hat.  
“Some think that he just left, some that he’s doing something important, but I think that he’s recruiting new path tellers. And a lot of them, by the last numbers I saw. I don’t know why but I think something big is going to happen.” Max said. “For now, I can just tell you to remove the white letters from the tattoo and the souls will stop coming to you.” He said avoiding looking her in the eyes.  
“What if I want to be a path teller?” Lorelai asked.  
“I already signed you up but I don’t know when that will be. But without a scythe and the sight to see the soul’s true nature, you are just putting yourself in danger so think about it. Ok?” Max said.  
“Ok.” Lorelai said.  
They said goodbye and Lorelai sat on the edge of her bed hugging a pillow. Max was right, without the sight to see souls she will just send souls in the wrong direction. Without a scythe she could put herself in danger if she meets a corrupt soul. Her only option was to remove the white letters and wait for Death to make her a real path teller.  
As Lorelai was thinking about her options a spot on her back started to itch. She scratched it unconsciously and all of a sudden felt a sharp pain around it. The pain suddenly spread all over her back. She arched her back in agony, clenching her teeth, trying not to scream. A black mist started to come out of her back and the pain became worse. The black mist gathered in front of her and started to take shape.  
The pain stopped when all the mist came out of Lorelai‘s back. Lorelai took a deep breath of relief and looked in front of her. The mist finally took shape and Death was standing in front of her. Speechless, she just stared at Death, not sure what to do next.  
“Hello, Lorelai.” Death said.  
“Hello.” Lorelai said and immediately felt stupid for greeting Death in such a lame way.  
“I have been watching your progress as a path teller without powers and I can tell you not to listen to Maximilian. He made more mistakes than you without powers. In you, I see a natural path teller.” Death said.  
“Thank you.” Lorelai said.  
Death summoned a scythe with a black wooden handle and tapped twice with the bottom of the scythe on the floor. The scythe shrunk so it fitted in the bony hand of Death.  
“It is time for you to choose. If you take this scythe you will become a path teller. If you choose not to take it, I will remove the white letters from your path teller hourglass. Choose.” Death said.  
Lorelai looked at the scythe in the Death's hand and thought about the last past months. About how her life changed when souls started asking her where to go. At first, it was confusing but later when she put the pieces together, she actually liked being a path teller. She lifted her hand and took the scythe from Death’s hand.  
“Wise choice. There are two things I have to do now.” Death said and leaned towards Lorelai.  
Death put its hand on Lorelai’s back. It didn’t feel like Death put its hand on her back, it felt like Death put its hand directly on her soul. Death moved the black sand, on her tattoo from the lower chamber to the upper chamber, leaving a few grains of black sand in the lower chamber.  
“Since you already have a path tellers hourglass on your back, I used that one. The path tellers hourglass makes you immortal when there is sand in the upper chamber. On your hourglass, I moved the black sand in the upper chamber. I left the grains of sand in the lower chamber for the souls you already told where to go.” Death said.  
“What will happen when all the sand falls down into the lower chamber?” Lorelai asked.  
“You will become mortal and when you die your hourglass will become real and your tomb.” Death said. “Now close your eyes.”  
Death put a finger on Lorelai’s forehead, drew half of a circle and said. “Open your eyes.”  
“Whoa! The world looks more vivid.” Lorelai said.  
“That is the power of sight. A path teller will come to you and explain everything you need to know. I must go now.” Death said tapped the bottom of his scythe twice and disappeared.  
Lorelai ran to the mirror to look at her tattoo and almost all the black sand was in the upper chamber. Only a few grains of sand were in the lower chamber. She took the small scythe and tried to figure out how to make it big. She knew that tapping twice on the bottom made it small but she didn't know how to make it big.  
“Hello.” Max said and startled her.  
“Don’t just barge in my room.” Lorelai said frowning.  
“You got a scythe? How?” Max asked.  
“Death came here a few minutes after you left. Can you tell me how to make my scythe big?” Lorelai asked.  
“Tap it twice on the bottom.” Max said.  
Lorelai tapped the small scythe on the bottom and it got bigger. She hugged it, smiled, looked at Max, grabbed his arm and with a grin said “Tell me everything.”  
“Damn it, why me?” Max said shrugging his shoulders and shaking his head.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading :)  
> Every comment is welcome


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